Dispensing device



United States Patent [72] Inventor Walter C. Beard South St.,Mlddlebury, Connecticut 06762 (21 Appl. No. 772,453 [22] Filed Oct.9,1968

Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 629,224, April 7, 1967,abandoned. [45] Patented Dec. 8, I970 [54] DISPENSING DEVICE 15 Claims,13 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 239/469, 239/492. 239/534. 239/573.239/602: 222/151.222/494 [51] Int. Cl B05b1/34 [50] Field olSearch 239/115, 116, 333,337, 468, 469, 491, 492, 534, 573,579, 602; 222/150, 151,494, 495

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 501,178 7/1893 Bourdil239/571X 3,] l8,6l2 l/l964 Abplanalp 239/579 3,250,474 5/l966 McKernan239/579X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,242,356 8/1960 France 239/308 747,465 6/l933France 222/494 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. AssistantExaminer-Michael Y. Mar Attorney-Delio and Montgomery ABSTRACT: Adispensing device for use with a pressurized or aerosol can or the likefor dispensing fluids, comprising a hollow body member of rigid materialand a first member positioned on one end of said hollow member, whereinsaid first member has a central raised portion. A resilient top wallhaving an opening for dispensing fluids is positioned above the top ofsaid central raised portion, such that the top wall and the top of saidcentral raised portion form a swirl chamber. The opening in the top wallis opened and sealed by means of fluid pressure.

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INVENTOR WaH'er C.. Beard ATTORNEYS BY mfomwmm DISPENSING DEVICE Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of copending U.S. Pat. applicationSer. No. 629,224 filed Apr. 7, I967, now abandoned.

This invention relates to dispensing devices and more particularly todispensing devices suitable for use with pressurized or aerosolcontainers or the like, and especially suitable for dispensing viscousmaterials such as foods, toothpastes, cosmetic creams, paints andanalogous materials. This invention is also suitable for use indispensing antiperspirants, starches,.hair lacquers and the like.

With present-day dispensing devices, particularly those currently usedfor dispensing foods and paints, the valve-sealing means is generally atsome distance from the orifice through which the viscous fluid isexpelled. Due to this circumstance the viscous fluids, particularlypaintsand foods, tend to fill up the area between the valve controllingthe emission of the fluid and the orifice and to become dry andhardened, thereby clogging the conduit and the orifice. When thisoccurs, it becomes extremely difficult to remove the hardened materialand, upon reuse of the aerosol container, to empty the usable contentsand gain the benefit of the unused portion of the contents.

Furthermore, in the case of a food material, the food which hasaccumulated between the mechanism and the orifice will tend to spoil or'spore micro-organisms, which would be detrimental to health.

For the foregoing reasons, applicant has provided an improved dispensingdevice, suitable for dispensing viscous materials.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new andimproved dispensing device which will operate effciently to dispensefluid and semifluid'materials which would tend to clog or otherwiseobstruct pumping passages because of their physicalcharacteristics.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new andimproveddispensing device which will operate satisfactorily to dispensematerialswhich would dry up or cake and which may spore micro-organismsdetrimental to health.

A further object ofthis invention is concerned with a new and improveddispensing device which is of simple construction, inexpensive tomanufacture, easily adaptable for aerosol containers, and providesself-cleaning features.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and the claims taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show thepreferred embodiments for carrying out the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a pressurized container having thepreferred dispensing device or spray head according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spray head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing the dispensing device inoperation;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, showing the device in operation;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the inventionwhich includes a swirl chamber formed in a cap;

Hg. 7 is a bottom view of thecap of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a sectionalviewsimilar to FIG. 8', showing another embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8, but showing a furtherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a sectional-view similar to FIG. 8, showing still anotherembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 8, showing yet anotherembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 13 is-a sectional view taken along lone 13-13 of FIG. 12.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, there is illustrated a dispensing device orspray head 20 constructed in accordance with the invention, which ishere shown mounted on a valve structure designated generally at 21,carried by a pressurized container 22. The structure 21 includes a valveplunger 23 normally biased upwardly by means of a coiled spring 24contained within the valve housing 26. The upper flanged end 28 of thevalve housing is crimped, as at 30, to the bottom of a gasket 29. Theplunger 23 is intended to ride up and down inside the housing 26 and hasa shoulder 31 formed on its upper end which engages the bottom of thegasket 29 about its central opening 32 in valve-seating relationship.The spray head 20 has a depending stem 34 slidably but sealably engagingthrough said central opening 32 and operating the valve structure.Through the wall at the bottom end of the stem 34 is a slot 35. The stem34 is hollow as shown, providing a central conduit 36. Thus, when thestem is pushed down by pressing on the top of the spray head 20, theshoulder 31 will be unseated from the bottom of the gasket 29' andaccess will be had for the propelled mixture coming from the container22 by way of the dip tube 37. The mixture will pass alongside the valveplunger, past the shoulder 31 into the slot 35 and up into the conduit36, to be dispensed.

A valve mechanism of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. 3,129,893 issuedApr. 21, 1964 to Green. It is to be understood that the dispensingdevice or spray head according to this invention could be utilized withmany other types of valve mechanisms, such as commonly in use withaerosol cans or the like. The purpose of showing the valve mechanism inFIG. 1 is merely illustrative and should not be considered as limitingthe invention.

The dispensing device 20 of the invention comprises a pin member 40supported in the bask wall of the stem 34. A cap member 41 is providedwith a resilient portion 42 having an orifice 43. The pin 40 andresilient portion 42' form a seal when the aerosol deviceis not in use.The resilient member 42 may be constructed of rubber or syntheticmaterials (plastics) such as ethylene vinyl acetate or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the diaphragm portion 42 is moved outwardly byfluid, as shown by the arrows 44, causing it to lift upwardly andoutwardly away from the pin 40. Upon release of the stem, a seal willonce again be formed between the pin 40 and the flexible resilient means42.

It will therefore be seen that a simple mechanism has been provided forsealing the outletorifice of a spray can or the like to prevent cloggingof the orifice by the fluid to be propelled drying over the orifice.If'a slight amount of hardened matter does form over the orifice, thedevice is so constructed that, by its being blown outwardly, the matterclogging the orifice will crack open since it is under the pressure ofthe fluid being expelled from the can.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, an alternate embodiment of the inventionis shown. In this embodiment, the stem of the valve mechanism is shownat 45 and has a passageway 46 formed therein. A cavity 47 is formed atthe top of the passageway 46 on whichis mounted a cap 48, preferably ofa rigid material, in which there is formed an outlet orifice 49.Positioned within the cavity 47 is a resilient member 50 constructed inthe form of a diaphragm, which is secured in the cavity 47. Thediaphragm 50 has an elongated pin 51 of resilient material supportedtherefrom. An air escape hole is provided at 52 in back of the diagram,as shown. In operation, the-pin 49 moves rearwardly, as shown in FIG. 5,under pressure of fluid, shown by the arrows, and the fluid is thereforepermitted to escape from thedispensing device. It is to be understood,with reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 15,-as

well as the embodiments to be described, that the pin may ex tendthrough the orifice, or may extend up into the orifice, or to a pointwhere the orifice and pin just meet, so long as a seal is formed betweenthe pin and the walls about the orifice.

Now referring to FIGS. 6-8, a modified form of the invention is shown,having a swirl chamber which may be substantially circular orelliptical, or any other suitable shape. In

FIGS. 68, the stem shown at 59 has a central passageway 60. A cap 61 ispositioned over the stem and fits on an undercut portion 62 formed inthe stem 59. Also, mounted on the top portion of stem 59 is a raisedportion 63 having an annular depression 64 formed therein. An opening 65is formed at the base of the depression 64 and communicates with thepassageway 60. The raised portion 63 has another raised portion 66formed thereon which supports a rigid pin member 67. The swirl chamber69 is formed'between an inner wall 68 and the member 66. Slots 70 areprovided in the walls of the swirl chamber for providing fluid,preferably tangentially, into the interior of the swirl chamber. It isto be understood that a single slot may be provided, if desired. Inaddition, an annular recess or chamber 72 is provided between the stem59 and the cap 61. The top of the cap 73 comprises a resilient portionwhich extends and seal, with the pin 67. It is to be understood that thecap and stem could be an integral one-piece unit or the cap could fitover the stem and be constructed such that only the portion 73 is ofresilient material whereas the remainder may be of a rigid material. Inoperation, fluid enters the passageway 60 and thence into the depression64 through the opening 65. It then travels into the annular chamber 72and enters the slots 70. The fluid enters the swirl chamber throughtheslots 70 and is then expelled past the resilient portion 73 as itraises due to the pressure within the swirl chamber.

With reference now to FIG. 9, there is shown another modified form ofthe invention. In this configuration, the stem is shown at having apassage 81 formed therein and a cap member 82 positioned thereon. Thecap member is constructed such that the passageway 81 extends upwardlyinto the cap and provides fluid directly into the slot shown at 83,comparable to the slots 70 in FIGS. 6 and 7. Thereafter, the fluidenters the swirl chamber 84 and exits by way of an orifice 85 formedbetween a rigid pin member 86 and a resilient cap portion 87. In thisembodiment, chambers are not provided in either the cap or stem member.

Referring now to FIG. 10, still another embodiment of the invention isshown, wherein only the cap portion is provided with an annular chamberwhich cooperates with the slots or passageways-feeding fluid to theswirl chamber, In particular, the stem is shown at 90 and has apassageway 91 therein. The passageway 91 provides fluid to an annularchamber which in turn provides fluid to a swirl chamber 93. From there,the fluid exits between the pin 94 and the resilient portion 95 of thecap member.

With reference to FIG. 11, there is shown yet another embodiment of theinvention, in which the annular chamber is incorporated only in the bodymember and feeds fluid directly into the passageways-providing fluid tothe swirl chamber. A stem has a passageway 101 formed therein. Anannular chamber is formed at 102 and provides fluid to the slots orpassageways 103. The fluid then enters the swirl chamber 104 and exitsbetween the pin 105 and the flexible or resilient portion 106.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate still another embodiment of the inventionwhich utilizes a swirl chamber of variable shape. The stem shown at 107has a central passageway 108 for the passage of fluids. Positioned overthe stem 107 is a cap 109 which fits on an undercut portion 110 formedin the stem. Also, mounted on the top portion of stem 107 is a raisedportion 111 having an annular depression 112 formed therein. Apassageway 113 is formed at the base of the depression 112 whichconnects with the passageway 108. The raised portion 111 has a furtherraised portion 114 located on top of it which abuts and comes intocontact with the top 115 of cap 109. An annular wall 116 having slots117 therein surrounds the top part of raised portion 114. The slots 117provide fluid, preferably tangentially, to the top end of raised portion114. Although two slots are shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, it is to beunderstood that one slot or more than two slots may be used. Connectingthe depression 112 with slots 117 and located between the annular wall116 and the cap 109 is a chamber 118. The top 115 of cap 109 isconstructed of a resilient material and has an orifice 119 therein whichis sealed by raised portion 114.

It can be seen that the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 is thesame as that shown in FIGS. 68, with the exception that, in FIG. 12, theraised portion 114 which corresponds to raised portion 66 in FIG. 8, israised so that it abuts the top 115 of cap 109. Additionally, wherein inFIG. 8 a pin 63 is used to seal the orifice in the top 73 of cap 61, inFIG. 12 such a pin is not utilized. l 'lowever, it should be understoodthat a pin may also be used in the embodiment of FIG. 12 to provide amore secure seal with the orifice, although that is not necessary. It isto be further understood that, although the embodiment of FIG. 12 is amodification of the embodiment of FIG. 8, the same modification, thatis, the raised portion 114 abutting the top 115 of cap 109, can beapplied to the other embodiments of the present invention illustrated inFIGS. 9-11.

In the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 12, fluid enters thepassageway 108 and then passes into the depression 112 throughpassageway 113. The fluid then passes into annular chamber 118 fromwhich it flows through slots 117. The fluid pressure raises the top 115,as shown by the dotted lines, so as to open the orifice 119 and form aswirl chamber between the top 115 and the top of raised portion 114.When the fluid .pressure is released, the top 115 falls back and comesinto contact with the top of raised portion 114 so as to close theorifice and eliminate the swirl chamber. It can be noted that the higherthe fluid pressure, the larger the size of the swirl chamber will be.The advantage of this embodiment over the other embodiments, is that thefluid materials are thoroughly mixed in the swirl chamber before beingdispensed, whereas in the other embodiments the fluid already present inthe swirl chamber before the dispensing device is used, is notthoroughlyv mixed when it passes out of the orifice. Moreover, thisembodiment is simpler and more economical to manufacture than theembodiments of FIGS. 6-l1.

It will thus be apparent that many different configurations may beconstructed according to the teachings of FIGS. 6- --13, withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

It can therefore be seen that the objects set forth above, among thosemade apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attainedand since certain changes may be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in theaccompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Iclaim:

1. A dispensing device for use with the valve of a pressurized oraerosol container for dispensing viscous fluids, comprising a hollowbody member of rigid material, a second member positioned on one end ofsaid hollow member, said second member having a central raised portion,a first chamber positioned about and extending above said central raisedportion, first passage means in the sidewall of said first chamber forproviding fluid to said first chamber, second passage means forproviding fluid from said hollow member to said first passage means,wherein said first chamber has a resilient flat top wall portion with anorifice therein for expelling fluid from said first chamber, a pinmounted on said central raised portion for providing a seal with saidorifice when fluid pressure is not acting upon said resilient top wallportion, such that said resilient top wall portion is uniformly flatwhen fluid pressure is not acting upon it.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which said first chamber is a swirlchamber.

3. A device according to claim 1, in which said top wall portion is partof a cap member, such that said cap member may fit about a flange formedin said central raised portion.

4. A device according to claim 1, in which said first chamber iscylindrical in shape.

5. A dispensing device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said secondpassage means includes a second chamber formed about said central raisedportion such that fluid passes from said second chamber into said firstpassage means.

6. A dispensing device for use with a pressurized or aerosol containerfor dispensing fluids, comprising a hollow body member of rigidmaterial, a first member positioned on one end of said hollow member,said first member having a central raised portion, a first chamberhaving sidewalls positioned about and extending above said centralraised portion, first passage means formed in the sidewalls of saidchamber, an annular second chamber positioned about said first chamberto provide fluid to said first passage means, and second passage meansfor providing fluid from said hollow body member to said second annularchamber, said first chamber having a top wall portion with an openingtherein for expelling fluid from said first chamber.

7. A dispensing device according to claim 6, in which the top wallportion is of a resilient material and in which a pin is provided onsaid raised central portion for forming a seal with said wall portion.

8. A dispensing device according to claim 6, in which said secondpassage means further includes a depression formed in said first memberabout said central raised portion for providing fluid to said annularsecond chamber.

9. A dispensing device for use with a pressurized or aerosol can or thelike for dispensing fluids, comprising a hollow body member of rigidmaterial, a first member positioned at one end of said hollow member,said first member having a central raised portion, a top wallconstructed of resilient material and having an opening for expellingfluids, wherein said top wall abuts the top end of the central raisedportion, and passageway means connecting said hollow body member to thetop of said central raised portion such that the central raised portionseals the opening in said top wall when there is no fluid pressure andwherein, when there is fluid pressure applied to the resilient wall, aflexible swirl chamber is formed between the central raised portion andthe top wall.

10. A dispensing device according to claim 9, wherein a pin is providedon said raised central portion for forming a more secure seal with theopening in said top wall.

11. A dispensing device according to claim 9, wherein said passagewayincludes passage means formed adjacent the top end of said centralraised portion.

12. A dispensing device according to claim 11, wherein said passagewayfurther includes an annular second chamber positioned to provide fluidto said passage means adjacent the top end of said central raisedportion.

13. A dispensing device according to claim 11, wherein said passagewayfurther includes a depression formed in said first member about saidcentral raised portion for providing fluid to said passage meansadjacent the top end of said central raised portion.

14. A dispensing device according to claim 12, wherein said passagewayadditionally includes a depression formed in said first member aboutsaid central raised portion for providing fluid to said second annularchamber.

15. A flexible swirl chamber device having a top wall and a bottom wall,wherein said top wall is constructed of resilient material and has anorifice therein and, further, wherein the top wall ordinarily abuts thebottom wall to seal the orifice and, on the application of fluidpressure, the resilient top wall moves to form a swirl chamber and openthe orifice.

